


Star Wars Episode XI: Sacrifice

by Ijustlikestarwars



Series: Star Wars Expanded Trilogy [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Lightsabers, The Force
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28228668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ijustlikestarwars/pseuds/Ijustlikestarwars
Summary: It's been 6 months since the battle on Coruscant. Ben is still in prison, the New Republic is in chaos, Yuuzhan Vong attacks are everywhere. Rey and Poe are under fire for their connections to Ben and Rey struggles with her duties as grand master and a single mother. Meanwhile, Darth Caedus has healed from his wounds and is starting to prepare for counterattacks on the weakened New Republic. Tsavong Lah lies in wait. But not all is perfect for the villains. The Black Sun grows tired of waiting and as the promises that Darth Caedus made them stray even further from coming true, they soon offer him an ultimatum. The galaxy goes to them and the Sith soon, or they find a replacement. He does have a sibling they could use just as well......
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Star Wars Expanded Trilogy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030782
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1
Collections: Star Wars





	1. Ben Solo

Ben coughed up blood in the dark cold cell. He had been shoved into solitary confinement after a ton of the other prisoners and some guards beat the crap out of him. Again. This had been going on for the whole 6 months that he had been in prison. His court hearing went by super fast. There wasn’t even any time for him to give any explanation for the dark side or Snoke or Palpatine or anything. The judge sat down and told him that he was going to prison for the rest of his life, that he should be lucky they aren’t killing him. Ben rolled over and winced. He realized that his right wrist, some ribs and left ankle were probably broken or fractured. Groaning he crawled onto the “bed” that he had there. It wasn’t really his, but after everyone took their turn beating up “Kylo Ren” it was him who got put into confinement, not the people who took turns making him see stars. As he laid there starving and dehydrated all he could think about his Rey and their children. He prayed and hoped that they were going to be okay. Ben KNEW that Rey was getting a hard time because of their relationship.  
“Grandfather… just help me get out of here..” Ben sighed and closed his eyes, not that it really matters in the pitch black.  
“I don’t think my father can help you this time Ben.”  
Ben jumped, wincing and sat up in his bed to see the force ghost of Luke Skywalker staring at him. Luke walked over and sat down next to Ben and sighed.  
“I wish there was more that I could do for you right now. I’m only able to come see you for a few minutes right now.” Luke looked around. “The force is very weak here. Probably to keep you at bay.”  
“I’m going to die here.” Ben looked at the ground. “I deserve it though.”  
“No. You did the right thing. You can find a way out of here. It might not be now and even soon, but you’ll find a way. The new Jedi Order needs you.” Luke put his hand on Ben’s shoulder.  
“Keep meditating. Keep feeling the force. It will keep you alive and safe. Let the force flow through you.” Without another word, Luke faded away.  
Ben laid back down and thought about how that was a waste of time. He’d been meditating and trying to think through the force and it wasn’t doing anything! He didn’t even know if anyone he cared about was okay. What if something bad had happened to the Jedi? Darth Caedus was still out there and so is the Yuuzhan Vong and the Black Sun. The more he thought about everything going on in the galaxy and with his wife the angrier he got. Ben stopped and took a deep breath. He had to listen to his Uncle. Luke was right, everything would work out and he would have to trust in the force. Ben closed his eyes and fell into an uneasy and painful sleep.


	2. Darth Caedus

6 months ago, right after the battle on Coruscant  
Darth Caedus sat in the medbay on his base. There was severe pain in his hand where Ben Solo had cut part of it off. The pain didn’t bother him, in fact it fueled his anger and the dark side in him. Caedus watched as the droid started to prepare what was left of his hand for surgery.  
“Stop” he moved the droid away and activated his spare lightsaber. “If you’re going to replace part of my hand…. Replace all of it.”  
With a swift motion, Darth Caedus slashed off his arm at the elbow. The pain was strong, but it felt good. He loved the way that pain felt, it made him feel powerful.  
The droid finished with his arm and backed up looking at it’s work up and down. Caedus looked at his new arm and moved it to test it out.  
“I need to make sure this works properly..” He reached out and easily crushed the head of his medical droid. He threw the droid to the side and smiled. This was much better than his real arm. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a comm.  
“I’m ready. Send in anyone with information about my sister to me.”  
An old recommissioned B1 battle droid walked into the room. Darth Caedus scoffed. Clearly his soldiers were too scared to come see him. As they should be.  
“Did my sister live?” Caedus sat up in his seat and shifted to see the droid better.  
“Yes sir. It looks like her and the three children live. 2 boys and 1 girl. We don’t know their names.”  
“I don’t give a damn about their names. What about Solo? Did they kill him like I predicted?” Caedus snapped impatiently.  
“Uh no sir. They took him into custody after some arguing from his friends.” The droid took some steps back nervously.  
“Damn… We’ll have to fix that. There are still First Order officials in the prison. Have some of the Black Sun spies in the New Republic bribe those officials to kill Ben Solo in return for their freedom.” Caedus stood up and stretched. “I’m taking a nap… tell the Black Sun to back off. I’m going to let Tsavong Lah and the Yuuzhan Vong to keep up their attacks.”  
Darth Caedus walked to his room and took a breath. Tomorrow he would move bases to somewhere else so no one would find him. This base was fine, but the planet was insignificant. He would move the base somewhere better and more imbued with the dark side of the force. The best place for a permanent base would be Moraband, the home planet of the old sith. His grandfather set a base there during the second galactic civil war. It would help him get closer to the dark side and maybe even be able to speak to Darth Sidious. Caedus sent the message about attacking the New Republic to Tsavong Lah and then sent out the call to the Black Sun to stop all advances for the time being. It was time for Caedus to bide his time before another attack. Because if all went according to plan, there was no way the new Jedi were ready for what he had coming.


	3. Rey Solo

Present day  
Rey sighed. The last 6 months had been the best and the worst time of her life. Having 3 beautiful children? Best thing ever? Not having their father here to raise them with her? Horrible? The Supreme Chancellor having a severe distrust of her and not wanting to work with the Jedi anymore? Also horrible. She hated naming them by herself, because she thought that Ben should be able to help choose. But her children needed her. She named the girl Jaina. The two boys were easy to name. She named one of them Anakin after Ben’s grandfather and the other Luke. She thought that even though it might be cheesy, Luke deserved it. He had been an important part of both her and Ben’s lives and Rey hoped that some of Luke Skywalker’s power and bravery would transfer to Luke Solo.  
Rey sat in the living room of their home on Tatooine. She had been up pretty late last night and up early this morning taking care of the kids. Ever since Chancellor Marie had learned about her relationship with Ben and that Poe and Finn had known, they were all constantly being watched and it wasn’t easy for Poe or Finn to come help her. Even at the Jedi Temple, many of her students had lost respect for her. Things weren’t going well. Suddenly she heard a ship land outside of the home. So did the triplets, who immediately started to cry. Swearing under her breath, Rey ran to them and tried her best to comfort all 3 of them at the same time.  
“Rey?” Poe’s voice came from the entrance.  
“I’m in here.” Rey called to Poe while still trying to comfort the two babies that hadn’t stopped crying.  
“Hey. Sorry if I woke them… Finn wanted me to come check on you, it’s been busy at the Temple.” Poe picked up Anakin and rocked him.  
After the triplets had been rocked back to sleep, Poe and Rey went to the living room and sat down.  
“Things aren’t doing so hot right now Rey. The Black Sun has calmed down on assaults, but the Yuuzhan Vong has still been attacking planets. A few planets have been annihilated, now their Yuuzhan Vong infested. Tsavong Lah has been spotted a few times sporting the nice scar that Finn gave him and I think he just replaced his missing hand with a knife.” Poe rubbed his forehead. “I wasn’t demoted but there definitely is a lack of trust between me and Chancellor Marie now.”  
“I wish I could help more. My hands are kind of full here. Not to mention that no one really wants my help right now…” Rey used the force to get them some drinks. For a while neither of them spoke, but sat there and just enjoyed each other’s company. It was nice to sit there with another person that was old enough to talk and make coherent sentences.  
Suddenly, Poe’s comm rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered. It was a guard from the prison.  
“Sir, you better get down here. There was a huge prison fight. Well, another one. Since we locked up Solo, they happen a lot. Usually it’s just a few First Order officials taking shots at the traitor. This time though, there were more officials than normal and Solo actually had some people standing up for him. Idk, maybe just some people who were tired of watching the same guy get the crap beaten out of him. I think some people might be dead.” The officer was clearly out of breath.  
Poe and Rey stood up quickly. “Is Ben Solo okay?” Poe asked quickly.  
“I don’t know. Just get here before something worse happens.” The officer ended the call.  
Poe opened his mouth to say something but Rey nodded. Without a word Poe ran back to his ship to go make sure nothing had happened to Ben. Rey paced back and forth. All she could do was hope that nothing bad happened to her husband.


	4. Ben Solo

Ben sat alone at a table eating the literal mush that they got for a meal. This was usually the time that he got the crap beaten out of him. Just on cue he felt something hit the back of his head. Ben sighed and stood up and turned around. A few prisoners stood there with their food in one hand and the metal tray in the other.  
“You ready? This time I don’t think we’re going to leave anything left for them to take to solitary confinement. This time. You’re dead.” They smiled and started walking toward him.  
“No. Not today.” Ben took a deep breath and channelled all of the energy that he had built up from his meditation. He pushed his hands forward and the three prisoners in front were thrown back into the wall. Ben gasped and almost fell over. The effort that took after not using the force for so long was more than he was expecting.  
A few more prisoners joined the rest, this time wielding sharp objects.  
“Leave him alone. It’s not worth it.” A few prisoners and guards stood to defend Ben.  
Ben stood up and looked at them shocked. They didn’t look at him with warmth, but they did nod to him for their support. Ben whipped around. The group that was against him hesitated but stood firm. Ben picked up the tray next to him and readied it for a fight. The next half hour was a blur. Lots of hitting people with trays and using the force whenever he could to help those who stood up for him. Eventually there were some blaster fires and people around him started dropping. Ben realized quickly that they were just being stunned. Suddenly he felt something hit his back and he dropped to the floor.  
Ben woke up chained to a chair. He instinctively jerked to try and get out.  
“Ben, calm down. It’s me.” Poe walked in the room and sat across from him. “The guards told me you saved as many people as you could. Even the people trying to hurt you.”  
Ben nodded. “I need to correct my mistakes. That means saving everyone, even those who try to harm others. Death isn’t a good punishment.” Ben hesitated after the last part.  
“You don’t believe that?” Poe leaned in, something in his hand.  
“What?” Ben started to ask what he was holding, but Poe shook his head quietly. “I-I think I do. Sometimes it feels like the darkness is taking over. But it never lasts. I’m trying to find a balance between the light and the dark. It’s not easy.”  
Poe nodded and clicked some buttons on the device and put it in his pocket. “I was recording that conversation. Hopefully the guards retelling of what happened, this recording and the fact that after months of getting the crap beat out of you, you still didn’t do anything to anyone will be something to help get you out of here.” Poe stood up and started walking to the door. “We’re keeping you in a different room. You’ll get real food and whatever they’re doing to stop you from using the force as well won’t be there either. Hopefully I can come see you tomorrow with good news.”  
“How are they?” Ben asked before Poe could close the door.  
Poe smiled. “They can’t wait to meet their father.” Poe left the room and Ben was moved to a real room, just like he was promised. His body still hurt, but Ben fell asleep easier and more hopeful than he had in months.


	5. Rey Solo

Rey had heard back from Poe that Ben was fine. Something seemed off though, he was really excited and didn’t stick around to tell her the details about what was going on or about what happened. She didn’t understand what was going on but something made her feel warm and happy. She tucked her babies into bed. Rey was starting to pick up on their personalities. Jaina was very quiet and polite. She took her bottle when offered it, rarely cried and played nice with her brothers. Anakin was a bit like Anakin Skywalker, brash and quick to react. Luke was a bit off a mixture of both of them, He hit his siblings more than Jaina but less than Anakin. She loved them all so much. She knew that Ben would too.  
She went to bed oddly hopeful and in the morning continued her daily routine. After taking care of the triplets and getting them down for a nap, she did some saber work. It had been hard for a while to do any work with her double bladed saber, her recovery from giving birth and losing Ben was hard and she still was sore from her last fight with Darth Caedus. Rey was pleased with her workout and just in time. Her kids had woken up. It was getting dull to her. She loved them a lot, but Rey had been away from the Temple for too long. She thought about getting a babysitter somewhere, but she was so worried that someone would take the job because of their anger at Ben and would kill their children. Rey knew it might happen, because she had visions of it in her sleep. The more she thought about everything going on and her duties and how affected the future would be because of her relationship with Ben or how her relationship with the chancellor had changed and how that would affect the Jedi. Rey knew that Marie had made it very clear that she did not want the Jedi interfering in the fights against the Yuuzhan Vong or the Black Sun anymore and that any attempt to fight would be met with resistance.  
Rey sat in a chair with Jaina who for some reason wouldn’t fall asleep. The baby looked at her mother with a sense of innocence and ignorance that Rey wished that she could have too.  
“I hope you never have to feel this lost.” Rey calmly talked to the restless child. “I wish your father could be here to help you. I don’t think I can. I feel so alone right now.”  
“You don’t have to be alone.” Rey stood up and looked at the door in disbelief. Ben Solo stood in the doorway.  
They walked and met in the living room together and embraced carefully.  
“Is. Is that?” Ben pointed at his daughter.  
Rey smiled with tears in her eyes. “Yea. This is Jaina.” She reached Jaina out to the child’s father for the first time.  
Ben smiled and took his daughter. “The other two?”  
“Asleep. Anakin and Luke.” Rey pointed toward the nursery they had made together.  
Within a minute of being held by her father, Jaina had fallen into a deep sleep. He walked her back to her crib and laid her down gently. Rey looked at her husband and tried to find the words to explain how much she missed him. All that happened was tears streamed down her face and her lip quivered. Ben walked to her and embraced her and held her head to his chest. His warmth calmed her down. She knew that together, there wasn’t a single problem that they couldn’t solve. Ben and Rey would find a way to bring the galaxy together, to stop the invading alien race, and to stop the sith from ever truly rising again.


	6. Finn

Finn was in Rey’s office reading through different Jedi text. He knew that it was hard for her here, but hopefully soon Rey could come back to her duties. Everyonce and awhile, they would get a signal about a Yuuzhan Vong attack, but because the Republic was the one using that frequency, Finn knew that they wouldn’t accept the help and that the Jedi shouldn’t interfere. While he got lost in his reading, he didn’t hear Alastor come through the door.  
“Finn. The chancellor is here.” Alastor looked unnerved and slipped away before Finn could even say anything back.  
“Hi Finn, I won’t take up much of your time.” Chancellor Marie walked in with two guards and took a seat at the desk.  
“Chancellor, what can I do for you?” Finn bowed respectfully and sat across from her.  
“I uh. I need your help.” Marie shifted uncomfortably and looked at him anxiously. “We aren’t winning the fights against the Yuuzhan Vong. I need the help of a couple Jedi. Two or three.”  
Finn leaned forward. “What do we get out of it? Rey isn’t here, she’s with her kids. You kinda shunned us, so excuse me for not being the most optimistic to help you.”  
“I’m not asking you to help me. I’m asking you to save lives.” Marie sighed. “I can’t give you much. The Jedi are doing well here. I’ll give a small Jedi strike team approval to fight with the New Republic. We can see how things go from there. Ben Solo is already out of prison so I ca-”  
Finn stood up quickly. “What? When?”  
“Earlier today. He helped save a bunch of people from a prison riot and the council deemed his actions and his interview with Poe enough to set him free. He’s still being watched. But he is a free man for the most part.” Marie didn’t sound too happy about that.  
“Okay. I’ll help you. Three Jedi. Me. Rey. And Ben.” Finn expected the chancellor to fight him on that but she just nodded.  
“Take Poe with you too. He should be helpful and he needs to get back into my good graces.”  
Finn nodded and stood up. “Where are we going?”  
“Not far. There is a small group of Yuuzhan Vong on Tatooine. Start there and let me know when you’re finished.”  
They walked out of the Temple together and stood at the entrance.  
“I’m not the bad guy Finn. May the force be with you.” She walked with her guards and got onto their ship and left.  
Finn stood there for a bit thinking about those words. He shook himself out of it and went to go meet Poe on Tatooine.


	7. Ben Solo

Ben received a call from Finn requesting that Ben and Rey join him and Poe on a journey to knock out a Yuuzhan Vong camp that was forming on their home planet. Ben knew that Rey was nervous about the trip and their children, but an elderly woman used to live near them and her granddaughter promised to watch them carefully and let them know if anything happened.  
“Are you sure we can do this?” Rey asked nervously. “We don’t know her very well.”  
Ben smiled and put his hand on her heart and moved her hand to his heart. “Everything will be okay. I sensed nothing sinister from her.”  
They moved together toward the door, but before they could get to a speeder Ben froze.  
“I don’t have a lightsaber. Do you have my grandfather’s still?”  
Rey nodded and pulled it out of a drawer and gave it to him. But Ben still didn’t move. It wasn’t his. He hadn’t earned this lightsaber yet. Ben decided that he should do something that he tried to do before he was arrested 6 months ago. He walked back to their room and pulled the purified crystal out from underneath the bed. He opened the hatch and took out the blue crystal that served his grandfather and his uncle.  
Ben put it in the same spot that the white crystal was. He didn’t know if this was going to work, last time he tried this with Kylo Ren’s lightsaber it blew up on him. Ben had realized too late that this was because the newly fixed crystal wouldn’t work with the ventilated sides. He put the crystal in Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber and walked back to Rey at the door.  
“Let’s see if this works better than last time…” Ben pressed the ignition and a bright white blade came out from the saber. He smiled, deactivated it and put it at his side.  
Rey looked at him with pride and then started walking to the speeder. Ben joined her and they met Poe and Finn at the rendezvous point. Poe jumped up when he saw them and ran over.  
“You guys ready? This might not be that easy. The group is larger than I thought it would be.” Poe seemed pretty nervous, a rather unusual thing for the cocky leader.  
Ben nodded. “We can do this. I have a plan. The sun is already going down, so we wait till dark. The three Jedi use the darkness to sneak into the base and only use the light from the lightsaber blades right before we strike them. In the dark and without using the force, they won’t know what to do. Poe, find a spot looking into the base and snipe off the confused warriors while they don’t know what’s going on. Finn, you have a slight advantage since your lightsaber doesn’t really make a glow with the dark blade.”  
The other 3 looked at him stunned with how fast that Ben came up with that plan.  
“Damn, you came up with that fast.” Poe shook his head. “It works. Let’s wait till dark and go for it.”  
The three Jedi moved to meditate for a second and Ben couldn’t help but chuckle at Poe awkwardly sitting in between them playing with his thumbs. After about a half hour they moved into positions. Ben took the north wall, Rey took the west wall, Finn took the east wall and Poe found a nice position to watch the front entrance in case they tried to run away. Ben debated how to get in. He could probably jump over the wall but who knew how many were going to be there. He could cut through the wall, but he didn’t know how long it would take and how much attention he would attract from it. He decided that jumping over the wall was faster and made less noise. Ben took a deep breath and jumped. He landed in complete darkness. He could hear the Yuuzhan Vong talking and moving. Silently he moved to his left to find some light so he could get his bearing. Once Ben found some light he realized that he was behind a tent. He moved in between two of them and waited for a second. Every once and awhile he saw a flash from the other side which meant that the other two were doing pretty well. Once he saw a warrior walk by, he coughed trying to get it’s attention. It worked out pretty well, Ben backed up further into the darkness and then the Yuuzhan Vong got far enough into the darkness, he quickly and quietly thrust the saber forward, activating and deactivating it as fast as he could. The body fell to the floor without a sound. Ben moved the body into the darkness using the force. He could hear some more Yuuzhan Vong coming toward him so he moved back into position.  
“They’ll be here. They won’t be able to resist the bait.” The large figure laughed and walked into Ben’s view.  
He froze. This wasn’t a small base. This wasn’t a temporary stop. Tatooine was the next target, and they knew the Jedi would come look for them. Then it hit him. He knew who that was, the long black ponytail, the missing hand. It was Tsavong Lah.


	8. Rey Solo

Rey moved quietly from tent to tent. She knew that she had a bit of an advantage than the other two, because the double bladed lightsaber gave her extra length so she should hide further in the shadows. Rey would quietly convince the Yuuzhan Vong to come into the darkness using the force and then would strike them down before quickly sinking the body into the sand. Once she thought that she had taken down enough of the Yuuzhan Vong walking by down, she tried to see if she could hear into the tent. For some reason, the Vong that were in the camp spoke basic instead of whatever their native language was. She noticed that there was a larger tent farther down on her right. Rey snuck down behind it and listened as close as she could. It was hard to hear and she didn’t want to give away her position. Just as she spun around to move on, she was hit hard in the head and blacked out.  
Rey woke with a start with a terrible pain in her head. She felt blood running down the side of her face, and her wrists were tied tight to a post above her with a rough rope that cut into her flesh. She looked down and noticed that her lightsaber was also missing. The tent was dark with a small fire that sat maybe a foot away on her left. Though, it was still large enough to let her know that it was there with how hot the flames were. A large figure walked into view with her lightsaber in one hand. Well his only hand.  
“Ah, grandmaster Jedi..” Tsavong Lah smiled at her as he walked closer. “I’m pleased to see you. We knew you were coming of course.”  
“Tsavong Lah..” Rey tried to sound threatening but all the pain in her body pretty much halted that idea.  
“You remember me! I was worried I wasn’t important enough to someone like you.” He looked up and down her lightsaber with a mixture of curiosity and disgust.  
“Only because of the scars and missing body parts that Finn gave you. He’s coming soon I bet. Did you want to keep your other hand?”  
To her surprise Tsavong Lah laughed loudly. “I like you. Do you know who I am in our species? I am the warmaster. I lead our warriors into countless wars across countless planets across countless galaxies! I’ve killed TRILLIONS of beings and machines. I am not fearful of your Jedi lapdog.”  
Rey looked around trying to find something to bring toward her with the force, maybe something to hit him with. She had to stall. “So what’s your plan here? That ugly ship you use to kill planets isn’t here.”  
The warmaster narrowed his black eyes. “That isn’t our ship. We don’t trust machines. That ship was a gift from your brother. Old sith technology. I’m sure it will eventually bite him in the ass after we both turn on each other.” He shrugged. “We don’t have the same goals. I want to leave this galaxy burned and destroyed. He wants to rule it. That doesn’t mix.”  
The sounds of lightsabers igniting at the door let them know that Finn and Ben had arrived. The white and black blades stepped forward and readied to fight. Tsavong Lah smiled without even turning around. He ignited the green blade from Rey’s lightsaber and turned to face the Jedi.  
“My staff and sword are in my quarters. I apologize for the unorthodox fighting that I will have to do.” He looked at the blade. “But it will be a fun learning experience for when I claim this as a trophy.”


	9. Ben Solo

Ben’s heart was racing and he could feel his anger rising. He had to do his best to keep it from taking over him again. Ben and Finn looked at each other and nodded. They both went to a different side of the warmaster and slashed. Despite being outnumbered, Tsavong Lah moved quite fast. He figured out quite quickly how to switch between the two blades and used that to his advantage when taking on both of the Jedi. There was a flaw in his plan though, he wasn’t a force user and was not trained in lightsaber combat. Ben could tell that he was starting to lose his defense.  
“Get Rey, I got him!” Finn shouted and pointed at Rey, who was starting to look like she was losing too much blood on her wrists and head.  
Ben ran over to his wife and waved a hand to get her out of the ropes. He grabbed her as she fell and placed a hand on her head, sharing some of his energy with her. She opened her eyes and opened her mouth to say something when they both heard a crash. Ben looked behind them to see Finn slammed through a table in the large tent and Tsavong Lah above him about to bring Rey’s lightsaber down to cut him in half.  
Ben used the energy that he had left to use force speed over and block the hit. He slammed the blade hard enough to turn the saber off and make Tsavong Lah drop it. He jumped into the air and hit him as hard as he could with the butt of his lightsaber. They both hit the floor at the same time, Ben landing on his feet and Tsavong Lah landing on his face, knocked out by the hard hit. Ben helped Finn up, grabbed Rey’s lightsaber and gave it back to her. They walked toward the entrance, but Ben stopped and looked at the unconscious Yuuzhan Vong. He hated this thing. It would be so easy to cut it’s ugly head off. There could be a lot of trouble saved. He thought about everything he could lose if Tsavong Lah got his way. His friends, Rey, his children. Ben hadn’t thought about how this would affect them. They almost lost their mother tonight. Rage filled his body. His vision started to blur and go black. Shaking, Ben thought about how this freak of nature working with Darth Caedus helped hurt Rey, and has killed several entire planets. Then he thought about how he had done the same thing as Kylo Ren with Starkiller base. Kylo Ren would end this miserable being. Kylo Ren wouldn’t be scared to do what needed to be done. Kylo Ren could-  
“Ben.” Rey’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He realized that he had taken a few steps forward and started to raise his lightsaber which he had unknowingly turned back on.  
“I um. I don’t know what just happened.” He shook his head and put the lightsaber away.  
Rey looked at him concerned and reached her hand for his. He took it and walked out the tent. He looked at Finn for some kind of explanation but Finn just shrugged and gave him a pat on the back. They met Poe at the entrance who grumbled about not having anything to do. Walking back towards the speeders with his wife and best friend, Ben made a promise. He would never let his thoughts wander like that again. At least not until he figured out what just happened. Was Kylo Ren reaching out to him again? No, Kylo Ren was dead. Right?


	10. Rey Solo

After the Jedi arrived back at her and Ben’s house, they paid and thanked the sitter who said she would come back anytime. Finn and Poe gave Rey a hug and shook Ben’s hand before leaving. The rest of the night was quiet. Rey knew that Ben was thinking about what happened. It wasn’t even bad. He hadn’t done anything wrong but she knew that he had thought about it and that was what was eating him up. Ben sat across the room from her twirling the lightsaber hilt in his hand staring intently at it. Rey got up, walked over and took it from him and placed their sabers in a trunk. She sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder.  
“Are you okay?” She knew the answer but wanted to see what he would tell her.  
“Yes. No. Maybe. I’m fine. I think.”  
“You can tell me. We have 3 kids together you know.” Rey looked at him and smiled.  
Ben looked at her and his face softened. “I feel like the darkness hasn’t completely left. And I don’t want it to affect your or our children.”  
“It won’t. I trust you. You wouldn’t have been able to purify the kyber crystal if you had too much darkness in you.” Ben stood up and shook his head. “Ben, you have to start trusting yourself too.”  
“I know. It was just some thoughts and I didn’t do anything wrong. Hell, even if I did kill him would it have been the worst thing in the world?”  
Rey sighed. “I mean, not really. But killing someone who’s defenseless like that isn’t the Jedi way. The ways of the old Jedi might have had their problems but only fighting those who can fight back wasn’t one of those problems.”  
She knew that Ben was fine, but it bothered her to see him so upset about something like this. It worried her.  
Both of them were very tired from the long night and fell asleep quite quickly. Rey woke up and rolled over surprised that it was bright outside. Usually she has to get up early for the triplets. But Ben wasn’t in bed so he probably had gotten up for them and let her sleep. Grateful for that opportunity, she got up and got dressed before joining Ben in the dining area. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Ben was sitting at the table with the three babies around him in their high chairs. It was funny to see the fearless ex supreme leader on baby duty, and enjoying it by the look of it. They ate and put the kids down for the morning nap before anything exciting happened. Rey’s comm link went off from Finn.  
“Hey do you think you could come to the temple today? It’s been awhile and someone just told me the rumor is that you died so you might want to come check on your students.” Rey thought this might not be the whole reason Finn wanted her to come do her job, it looked like he hadn’t slept at all.  
“Well I really want to but-”  
Ben interrupted her. “Go ahead. I got the kids today.”  
Rey was eternally grateful for all that he helped her with. “Deal. I’ll be back tonight.”  
She told Finn she’d be there soon, kissed her husband and children and took off.  
When she got back to the Jedi temple, Rey found herself super nervous. She didn’t realize how long it was since she had really been here and she didn’t know how the members of the order would react to her. She nervously walked up the steps and into the main hall. It was pretty quiet which Finn had told her about. Since Chancellor Marie had come to him, the Jedi and their apprentices were out in the galaxy, finding new force sensitives and doing recon for the Republic. The jedi master Delilah walked into the hallway staring at the ground deep in thought. She looked up and locked eyes with Rey and smiled. She ran over and gave Rey a big hug which gave Rey a huge sense of relief. Maybe they weren’t as upset with her as she thought.  
“We missed you. Are you back? Wow, you look great post pregnancy. Is Ben with you? How are the kids? Do you still fight?” Delilah was known for asking too many questions and talking too much sometimes.  
“Yes i’m back, thank you, no he’s with the kids, the kids are great and yes we just did some fighting actually.” Rey smiled back. “I wasn’t sure how people would react. When I came back for a day to get some things everyone seemed like they didn’t want me here….”  
Delilah shook her head. “Most people forgot about it after a few days. Jedi should be about forgiveness and your husband has done enough to earn that forgiveness.”  
“Are you alright? You look like something’s bothering you.”  
“Ah. Well I got a padawan. Her name is Ashley. Another human. Most alien species don’t want their children to come to the temple with us. And if they’re old enough to make that decision on their own, they still don’t want to come with us. Humans seem to be the only ones that want to be Jedi right now. Anyway, she’s going on her first solo mission. It was supposed to take three days and she would update me each day. Well it’s been six days and she stopped updating me after day three. I’m worried something happened to her.” Delilah sighed and paced across the hall.  
“I’m sure she’s okay. Where did she go?” Rey grabbed the jedi master to stop her from getting dizzy from walking.  
“Utapau. Rumor was black sun made a secret base there. Ashley wasn’t supposed to fight anyone, just see if there really was a base there, see what the purpose was and then get out.”  
Rey nodded. “I see. Why don’t you go check and make sure she’s okay. Keep in touch, if I don’t hear from you in a few days we’ll come check on you.”  
“Okay, sounds good. Hopefully we’ll talk soon.” Delilah bowed and then ran out of the temple.  
Rey walked to her office and sat down. She didn’t know where Finn went, but she hoped he was just sleeping. She did the usual work, checking on the list of force sensitive beings around the galaxy and who they had already talked to. Walking around saying hi and checking on training, and ending the daily routine with meditation. She sat down and took a deep breath before closing her eyes. Trying to empty her thoughts was hard. She sat there for a while before something tickled her leg. She brushed it off and tried to refocus. It brushed her again. Getting annoyed she opened her eyes before quickly standing up. She wasn’t in her office anymore. She was in a green field with one tree in the middle. The sky was nice and blue with the warm sun in the sky and a few white clouds. Rey didn’t know where she was but it felt nice and calm. She took a deep breath and noticed someone standing underneath the tree. As she got closer she realized that the figure also had a green owl on her shoulder. Getting even closer she recognized the woman. It was Leia. Rey ran over to her.  
“Leia? What are you doing here? Where are we?”  
Leia smiled at Rey. “This is the force plane. Well, for the light side of the force. The dark side looks much different. Not the same happy feeling. As for what I’m doing here, I live here now. Others that you know and some you don’t know are around here somewhere. Some Jedi become one with the force. I didn’t want to leave yet.”  
Rey tilted her head. “You wanted to keep an eye on Ben.”  
Leia nodded. “Seeing my grandchildren was a nice bonus too. Catching up with you is nice Rey, but there is something I must tell you. You must have realized by now that just as you have figured out how to come here, so has your brother.”  
“I thought as much.” Rey sighed. “I’m sure he’s speaking with the ghost of our grandfather too.”  
Leia’s face darkened. “Probably my father’s ghost too. Maybe more.”  
“But I thought Anakin turned back to the light. Darth Vader doesn’t exist anymore.”  
“Not exactly. Some people like Ben only partially turn to the dark. They become a different version of themselves but still them. My father turned into a different person. Anakin Skywalker was corrupted into Darth Vader. The essence that was Darth Vader had attempted to take over Anakin’s ghost. I had to help me destroy it. But Vader was never lost. He just lost the ability to come back to the real world. The only interaction with the real world dark side users can have is tie their soul to a physical object. They could take over the body of someone if they become corrupted by said object. Most choose not to do this however, because the odds of someone finding it and falling for the dark side tricks are small.”  
“If Darth Caedus is learning from the sith what can I do to stop him.” Rey was getting nervous at the thought of the ancient sith teaching her brother. She heard stories about how ruthless some of them could be.  
“Come here once every few days. I will teach you things you can’t learn in texts. Other Jedi here can help you too.” Leia took Rey’s hand. “Please Rey. You and Ben are the only hope of the Jedi.”  
“Can you teach Ben too?”  
Leia sighed. “No. Ben isn’t fully attached to the light yet. He’s working for it, but the darkness is still there. Once he let’s go, yes I can. Finn might be able to learn this ability too. But it will take more teaching from you.”  
Rey nodded. “I will do what I can. Thank you Leia. She turned to go back and sit down to come back to the real world.  
“Rey. Tell Ben… I’m sorry. That I should have believed in him when I had the chance. I don’t have the courage to face him myself. Not yet.” Leia smiled sadly.  
“I will. He misses you.”  
“I miss him too. More than he will ever know.”  
With that, Rey faded back into her office, determined to stop the sith and secure the future for her children and Ben.


	11. Darth Caedus

Darth Caedus stood at the entrance to his grandfather’s temple on Moraband. He was facing the canyon with his eyes closed breathing in the dark side energy that came from the planet. Things were progressing quite well for him. That stupid Jedi apprentice had fallen for his trap on Utapau and her Jedi Master was on her way too. He would capture them, kill them and place them in a spot that would lure both Ben and Rey out. Once they were away he would launch his plan to turn Ben Solo back into Kylo Ren. With Kylo Ren on his side, the galaxy would fall. Old First Order leaders would come to join them and the sith would rule the galaxy again. He might even be able to kill the Yuuzhan Vong earlier than he thought he would have to. To train for fighting multiple Jedi at once, Caedus had created two new lightsabers, leaving his old spare one behind. It wasn’t very stable and didn’t hold up as well as these two new ones. They weren’t as easy to use together, but he was learning fine. He snapped out of thoughts and meditation as a droid walked up behind him. He left the real soldiers behind and brought the new droid army with him. It was easier to deal with robots than living beings.  
“Sir, the Black Sun leader is on call for you.”  
Darth Caedus froze. What did they want?  
“Thank you… I’ll take it in my quarters.”  
He walked quickly through the halls and found his way to his quarters. He shut the door and pressed the button on his hologram. A large green man appeared on the screen. He was very tall and bulky, he looked very wealthy with lavish robes and many rings on.  
“Darth. Caedus.” His voice boomed even if he wasn’t really there. “You promised me the galaxy would be mine. SIX. MONTHS. AGO. Yet here we are. All you’ve done after you failed on the capital planet was make some TOYS to play with, and leave my men that we so graciously gave you, to sit around playing with themselves. Meanwhile a different army takes over the galaxy.”  
“The plan had to change. You will have your galaxy and money soon. So will I. The sith and Black Sun will become a formidable force in the galaxy. I promised you that.” Darth Caedus could feel his voice shaking.  
“Caedus. Or should I say Jacen Palpatine. We don’t need you. We can find a different Dark Jedi to rule the galaxy.”  
“SITH! NOT DARK JEDI! AND THERE ARE NO OTHER SITH! NOT YET! WITHOUT ME YOU HAVE NOTHING AND NO ONE!!” Darth Caedus couldn’t help himself. He lost it on this stupid green alien. He took a deep breath. “Without me you have nothing. The Black Sun was just a terrorist group. I brought you greatness.”  
The green freak who Darth Caedus had only heard the name of once, Vinon Dara, stood up from his chair and laughed. “You’re a fool. If you don’t make some real progress on this galactic wide crusade of yours soon, I WILL replace you. Maybe you aren’t like your grandfather after all……”  
The hologram disappeared. Darth Caedus took a deep breath and walked around the room. Anger flooded his emotions and all he heard was his grandfather's voice:  
“Failure.”  
He whipped around to see a red ghost standing by him. It was a ghost of the twice deceased Emperor Palpatine.  
“Not a failure. Not yet. I WILL succeed where you failed.”  
Palpatine laughed. “Failed? My boy, I ruled the galaxy for two decades and then pulled strings for it in the background for almost 3 decades more. You have done nothing but fight some weak force users, Ben Solo and your sister. And when you needed to win most, you failed. You could have killed her at the temple but didn’t. You are an embarrassment to the sith.”  
Darth Caedus stormed forward and ignited both of his lightsabers.  
“Then fight me you old fool - oh wait, you can’t. Because YOU’RE DEAD.”  
Palpatine sneered. “You forget BOY. I wasn’t just emperor Palpatine. I was Darth Sidious. Lord of the Sith. If you find yourself so powerful. Prove it to me.” The ghost ignited two red lightsabers. Darth Caedus took a step back. How was this possible? He shook of his thoughts and charged. The ghost was faster than he thought and dodged everything that he threw at it. After several minutes of attacking a force ghost and slashing apart the main room of his quarters, he had to stop from lack of breath. Darth Sidious quickly moved forward and shoved a lightsaber into his chest. Darth Caedus winced expecting pain, but he felt nothing. He looked down and noticed that he just phased through him.  
“You have no plan of attack. You don’t have form, you just fight with blind rage. It will not work anymore. I will teach you. You will learn from me. Then take over the galaxy. Move along with your plan to ruin the Solo family. Come back here again to learn from me.”  
Darth Caedus took a step forward towards the ghost of his grandfather.  
“What is your lesson for today.”  
Sidious smiled cruelly. “How to use REAL force lightning.”  
Darth Caedus trained with his grandfather for hours before stepping out of the base and walking toward his fighter. He got in and flew to Utapau. He landed on the platform and hopped out. Walking toward the headquarters where the two jedi would be held. He loved the feeling of the droids and the black sun saluting him as he walked by. The stupid natives tried to fight and ended up mostly being killed. Caedus opened the door and walked through the office. In the backroom he used the force to open it. He found a way to jam the door so that the only way it could be open was through the force. That way only him or a Jedi he could kill or turn would be able to make it in. He turned on the light and smiled. Both Jedi were bound and gagged on the floor, both of them quite beaten and tired. He smiled and walked over to a locked chest made of pure beskar and opened it looking at the two lightsabers from them. He shut the chest and walked back over to the Jedi.  
“Unfortunately for one of you, only one will be making it out alive. That’s only if you are willing to embrace the dark, otherwise I’ll just kill you both. But first let’s send a message to my sister. He grabbed the younger one by the hair and dragged her to the front of the room, in front of the other Jedi. He hadn’t learned their names and he didn’t care to. He unbound her chains and gag and used the force to keep her from escaping. He ignited one of his lightsabers with the other hand and lightly pushed it into her back and moved it up and down, careful to miss anything important that would end her suffering. She screamed and twiched. Caedus looked at the other Jedi and enjoyed the pain in her eyes and the tears streaming down her face. He continued to carve into the Jedi with his eyes closed, enjoying the screams and the pain and fear that came off of her. Eventually there wasn’t much to cut so he slashed off one of her hands and one leg.  
She had stopped screaming and was just twitching on the ground. He sighed.  
“Guess she doesn’t have any more fight left. That’s a shame. Well, she’s useless alive. Congrats Jedi Master. You get to be my new apprentice.”  
He raised his lightsaber and cut the young Jedi’s head off. Darth Caedus used the force to under the gag from the other Jedi. “Ready to join me?”  
She spat at him. “I’ll never join you.”  
Darth Caedus shook his head. “Well that is sad to hear. Guess we’ll sit here until my sister arrives and then I’ll kill you.”  
He used the force to pick up the body of the other Jedi, leaving her missing limbs behind as a reminder for her failures and as a fun puzzle for Rey and Ben to find out. Walking out of the room he heard the Jedi screaming insults at him as he left, slamming the door and turning off the light on her. He tossed the body off the edge and sat comfortably on a cliff. He called over a battle droid and a black sun captain.  
“Yes sir?”  
“When my sister and her husband arrive, give them a fight. But don’t kill them. If they get weak, still let them into the office. I want them to see the end of the Jedi Order.”  
“Yes my lord.” The black sun captain bowed and went back to his men. The super battle droid said something he couldn’t understand before moving back to the other droid’s to relay the orders.  
“Things are coming together. I have fun tricks up my sleeve. See you soon sis.”


End file.
